Chapter 5

A HUNDRED DAYS LATER

Nail gingerly picked up the newborn hatchling from the litter of its cracked shell. Little squeaking noises emanated from its mouth while teeny green fists pushed against the open air in alarm. "There now, little brother," he cooed as he curled the infant securely against his chest.

"He misses his shell," breathed a soft, accented voice behind him. Nail turned his head to look at Axle, who was hovering over them with the most curious face he'd seen on her yet. Her large, green eyes were fixed on the child in his arms, and her mouth was open in some unspoken thought.

"He'll be grateful it's gone in a couple weeks, after he doubles in size," he commented, enjoying her honest reaction. "Here." Nail held the infant out to her before she could refuse and laid it in her arms.

"Uh, I…" She leaned back in surprise, but not before instinctively circling her arms around the newest addition to the namekian race. It whimpered a little before nuzzling against the warmth of her body, and Nail watched in fascination as the hard lines of Axle's usual expression softened into something much less disciplined.

She bit her bottom lip, as though in effort to retrieve the innocent smile that lifted the corners of her mouth. She flicked a quick, enlivened glance up at him, and he thought he'd never seen such delight in her eyes. "He's so…helpless," she said as she stared down at the child's scrunched, chubby face.

"For now," Nail said, recalling the terrifying birth that almost killed Guru. "But he is destined for greatness, this one. He will be the last of Guru's children."

She looked up at that. "No more, eh?"

Nail shook his head and breathed a sigh of relief. "He is old. And he's done his part in replenishing our world."

"Hmmm…" She looked thoughtful and bowed her head to make soft clicking noises at the baby. The child had relaxed considerably in her arms. "So what's going to be this one's name?"

Nail inhaled deeply. "Dende."

"And he'll be special…"

"Guru doesn't combine affinities very often in his children, and when he does, it never exceeds two."

"Until now?" she prodded.

"Until I was born, and then again with this one," Nail reached out and ran a taloned finger across the infant's soft arm. "We both have three. I am Warrior, and Dende will be Healer, but we both inherited Nurturer and Leader as well."

She smiled warmly at him. It was something she did rarely, and he guarded each moment like a trophy. It showed how comfortable she'd become in his company, which was great considering how much he enjoyed hers.

Axle became a regular visitor of the clan. After initial introductions, several of the brethren had befriended her as well, making her less reluctant to come around. Granted, most of her time was spent in the nursery with the wee scrubs, as they made her feel like less of an alien than anyone.

But Nail definitely looked forward to their moments together. She had taught him much about the unwritten laws of space travel, and interplanetary communication. She had schooled him on the ways of Rameumptum, and some of her more questionable adventures as a mercenary. Not to mention the way she constantly made him question his traditional way of thinking. There were so many facets to her personality that Nail was never bored around her, even when there was nothing to say.

"Well, I must say, your species makes some damn cute babies," she began as she rocked the sleeping infant, and then a hint of mischief twinkled in her eyes. "And the adults aren't too bad, either."

Cute? Nail looked down at baby Dende and frowned. He was nothing like the infant. He was self sufficient, mature, strong… She apparently found his expression amusing, however, because she chuckled and shook her head.

Nail studied her. "You know, one of these days I'll understand why you laugh at me like that," he said in his defense.

She locked stares with him, then, the mirth lessening in her face. "Nail, the day that happens, your world will turn upside down."


.

Later on, after he'd taken his shift with the warrior tenderlings, Nail went off in search of Axle for their daily fraternizing. To his surprise, she wasn't in the nursery, nor was she with Bok, watching his sprouting healers learn. He was about to take off for her camp outside the clan when he heard frivolous laughter coming from one of domes. Curious, he walked over and peered inside the doorway.

Axle was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Choda, Churet and Chik, and they were playing a game using polished stones. Axle pounded on the floor with her fist, and swiped up a handful of them.

Choda and Churet burst into gut-busting guffaws as they poked and slapped at Chik, who was looking rather glum.

"Just be grateful that this is pretend, and that these rocks aren't your livelihood, Chik," Axle said as she winked at him. The gesture brightened his face, and Nail watched in awkward discomfort as his warrior brother blushed.

Axle's eyes sparkled in the same shade of green as her attire, the pants and laced up vest contrasting nicely against her shimmering skin. The color seemed to look better on her than on the sloping grasslands, or emerald sky. She had requested a daily change of clothes, and Nail had obliged, noticing as he did so that some shades accented her alien prettiness better than others. He'd been quite proud of the most recent attire. Until he saw how his warrior brethren were staring at her, that is.

Before, the alien female had merely intrigued them. Now, as he watched how much of their attention was focused on Axle, he realized that they were downright captivated by her; sneaking glances when her eyes were averted, watching every movement as though she were weaving water with her hands…

It bothered him. After some analysis, Nail considered that perhaps it had something to do with her influence reducing such disciplined warriors to the maturity level of tenderlings, all jests and chuckles.

Yeah, he told himself. That must be it.

Axle finally noticed him and jerked her chin in acknowledgement. "How were your stripling warriors?"

Choda, Churet and Chik's heads swiveled on their necks to see who had distracted her from the game. Nail shifted uncomfortably.

"They're learning."

The gaiety of the scene died down as they no doubt realized that Nail had come to take her away from them, and he tried to ignore the narrowed stares as he stood innocently in the doorway.

"Well, good thing you showed up," she mused as she gathered the rocks on the floor and piled them in front of her. "Chik was about to lose his shirt, his pants, and that ridiculous looking neck wrap you people wear for adornment…" She grinned and glanced up at Chik, who smiled bashfully and looked down at his feet.

Nail fought the urge to roll his eyes - a gesture she'd taught him.

Axle hopped up. "Alright, boys. It's been fun, but I have to go entertain your brother, now."

They mumbled goodbyes as she walked out of the dome, and Nail didn't miss the greener-than-usual tone to their faces. It put him at unease. He was the one Guru had put in charge of familiarizing with the female, not them. Yet it seemed with each passing day, they were holding it against him more and more.

"So where are we going today?"

Her question startled him out of his troubled thoughts, and he looked down into her gray-skinned face. "There's a large body of water on the opposite side of Namek," he explained. "It's home to some of our most distinguished creatures."

She shrugged. "Well then, let's go."


.

They touched down a while later, just as the first sun had peeked up over the horizon. Axle was grateful that Choda and Churet had taught her how to fly earlier. Granted, heights still terrified her so she stayed low, but it kept her from relying on Nail for transportation. And the less she had to rely on the namekians, the better.

The water lapped softly against the sandy bank, and she stripped off her shoes, and rolled her pants up to her knees.

"What are you doing?"

She looked over her shoulder at Nail who was leaning against the wall of the cliff along the shore. Shadow shaded his broad, bare-chested form, and she fought back a sudden wave of spontaneous sensuality - something she'd had to do a lot of recently, around him.

"I'm wading," at his perplexed look she walked into the water up to her calves, and dug her toes in the sand. "So where are these impressive animals you've been telling me about?" She turned around to see him hovering up to her, his feet inches from the gentle water.

"They'll be here. Our presence is known."

"Hmm…" Axle reluctantly admitted that she didn't care much for the animals. It was just another excuse to spend time with the attractive, and totally oblivious namekian. She'd learned so much about their people in the time that she'd been there; their societal structuring, their daily routines, their impeccably honorable natures… Namekians were the most noble and perfected species she had ever met. And Nail was the ruby in a stack of gems - the best Namek had to offer. His gentle nature, his warrior training, his stoic presence… He almost seemed too good to be true.

She had yet to meet Guru, as he seemed the enigmatic figure in the background - a deity that knew all while experiencing nothing. But from she saw, it looked like Nail was Guru's favorite. And the most amazing thing was that no one seemed jealous of him.

Until lately, that is. She didn't miss the envious glares that some of the warriors would toss his way when she spent time with the alpha son, or Nail's growing possessiveness of her as a result. It was strange. In a way, she almost felt like her presence was bringing out the evil in a good people. If she didn't enjoy their company so much, she would just camp up in solitude until the dragonballs were summoned.

Curious to see how aware Nail was of the growing tension among his kin, she decided to indirectly bring it up. "Your warrior brethren are fun gamers," she said as innocently as she could. "Not very good, but highly amusing."

She watched a couple expressions cross his face, neither of which were pleased.

"They're fixating on you too much," he said seriously. "They're forgetting who they are."

She tried to keep the smile from curling her lips. "Kind of like you?"

His face opened in denial. "It's my responsibility to-"

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, Nail," she chuckled, shaking her head.

He was speechless at her audacity. It made her wonder, yet again, how the hell Guru had made a planet full of males who seemed to be so self-aware about everything except their maleness.

Something told her she should stop teasing him, but toying with the confused, ever-serious namekian had become her favorite pastime as of late. Nail opened his mouth to argue, and she grabbed both of his calves and yanked him into the lake.

He hissed as his feet got wet, but before he could gain his balance in the sandy bottom, she slipped a foot behind his ankle and slammed him into the water. His head, shoulders and chest bobbed up to the surface, and he blinked up at her, wide-eyed and sputtering. Droplets hung off of his drooping antennae, and Axle thought that even without hair the namekian still looked disheveled.

As a matter of fact, he looked so undignified that she burst into laughter. It started out as mere chuckles, but immediately progressed into squeaking hee-haws as she clutched at her stomach and doubled over.

"You're so frivolous," he declared, nonplussed.

"And you're so serious!" she laughed back. "Relax!"

A glint in his eye was the only warning she had before it materialized into a practical joke, and before she knew it, Nail's arm had snaked out and grabbed her waist, pulling her in after him.

She yelped as she splashed down on top of him, unsure if he'd consciously or subconsciously intended for her to land there. Her braid got wet and flopped in his face like seaweed, and she pushed up off his chest enough to look at his face.

His eyes were smiling, and he blew at her loose hair strands that were tickling his cheek. "Is that what you had in mind?" he grinned, having no awareness of how much cuteness he projected in doing so.

She considered her now soaked clothes, and realized that it indeed was her fault. "Unfortunately, yes."

He frowned at her hair strands again, which continued to bob in his eyes. She would have gotten up, but his arm was fastened securely around her waist. "I can't think of anything more tedious…" he commented, more comfortable with their proximity than she was.

It took her a moment to realize he was referring to her hair, only because it seemed to be holding his interest a good deal more than he was letting on. "Tedious?" she snorted. "I'm not the one with two slugs sticking out of my forehead."

His brows raised, and a surprised chuckle escaped his lips. "You have no idea how useful antennae are."

She quirked a brow at him. "None, whatso-"

Suddenly, a great watery sound erupted from the lake, and they were immediately blanketed by an enormous shadow. Axle gasped and turned to behold the most hideously monstrous water creature that she'd ever seen.

Its globular, murky body was the size of a mountain with several fins and dangling appendages layering its sides. Its mouth was a gaping, toothy cavern while a few spare eyeballs circled around like marbles on its face. It was death. Incarnate.

"CARNIVORE!" she screamed, as she yanked Nail up with her, hurling him bodily against the cliff.

He grunted when he hit and she whipped out her gun, backing into him. Cursing the damn geographic inconvenience that trapped them with this monster, she whimpered as the thing closed in on them, literally cutting off any exit of escape.

She swore, and went to pull the trigger when a strong arm bracketed her from behind.

"Axle-"

"Let go!" She squirmed and yelped as the thing bowed over them, its gaping mouth readying itself for a meal. "It's going to kill us, Nail. Let-me-shoot-it!"

"It's harmless, Axle!" he yelled, as his grip on her wrist tightened, forcing her to drop the gun.

She might have believed him had the thing's presence not pushed all her panic buttons. She screamed and stomped at his feet. He growled, and made a series of quick clicking noises.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, the creature returned to its watery home, sending a wave that splashed up on the shore over their heads. Blinking through her soaked banks, Axle gawked breathlessly at the lake, stupefied. Had Nail not been holding her up from behind, her legs probably would have given out.

"It's gone," came a soothing voice in her ear, a catch of humor in his tone. "I sent it back."

"What the…how…" she panted, trying to calm her racing heart. "Who makes a pet out of the legendary sewage blob from Hell?"

A small wheezing noise sounded from behind her, making her ears twitch, and she listened with growing distraction as it crescendoed into deep, hearty guffaws. Nail was laughing, and Axle thought she'd never heard such a happy sound.

She turned in his residual embrace to see his eyes disappearing in mirth while a face-splitting smile broadened his face. A whole slew of things occurred to her right then, not the oddest of which being that his teeth were really pretty in the sunlight.

"I don't…" he began between breaths, his voice low and raw with laughter. "I don't…know what amuses me more; the fact that you were afraid of the most peaceful creature on Namek, or that you thought you could actually protect me from it if it really wanted to attack us."

"Making fun of me now, are you?" she reprimanded, trying to cover up how captivated she was by his lack of composure. Her remark sent him into another fit of giggles, and she couldn't hold the scowl any longer, so she dug her fingers into his ribs.

His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened dramatically. It was childish, really, so she stopped. The effect was that it took the tease right out of him and replaced it with something much more…primal

Wordlessly, Nail stared down at her, the expression from earlier frozen on his face while his eyes portrayed a world of other emotions. She had the impression that she was more aware than he was of his tightening grip on her sides, pulling her closer. The namekian had no idea what he was doing.

But she did.

Genderless, my ass, she thought crazily as the heat from his body penetrated their water-soaked clothing. With her heart thumping in her throat, Axle slid her hands up his chest, noticing that as she did so his breath became uneven. His gaze turned feverish.

She drew her fingers up his neck and clamped them around his ears. Then she pulled his face down and kissed him.

A small noise of surprise vibrated against her mouth, and instead of pushing her away, Nail pulled her to him. Her lips moved against his until the awkward hesitancy of the moment shifted to frenzied desperation, and she caged him against the cliff, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He gripped her sides, and she released his mouth to nip at his ear. "You like this," she purred, feeling her knees give out as he panted on her neck.

"I…don't understand…what's happening…" he said in an uneven cadence as he curled himself around her, arching her back.

She trailed little bites along his jaw and down his neck, smiling when she felt him shudder. "You're male," she breathed.

He rested his forehead on her shoulder, and ran his thumbs back and forth along the waistline of her pants. "But…Guru said-"

"Guru lied." She pulled back, kissed his heated lips and locked him in her gaze. "Etrack was able to create life," she whispered intensely, "with a female counterpart…"

A hint of coherency flashed across his glazed, heavy-lidded eyes. "How…do you know?"

"Because," she said, smiling ruefully and tracing a finger across his cheek. "I'm his granddaughter."